"Thank you." D accepted the tribble in cupped hands. He didn't know if the creature's influence extended to his race or if the diminishing of his powers had made him more vulnerable but he could feel it, faintly...a slowing of the heartbeat, a lessening of tension stronger than the normal sense of tranquillity he felt around his pets.
"I would suppose it originated as a defence mechanism," he said softly. "To calm the temperament of predators, perhaps. It is certainly...unusual."
Libby nodded. "I'm not sure what their natural predators are, but that would make sense. I decided to keep one when the others were taking care of the infestation, for therapy purposes. Somewhere along the way, I forgot about that option, and now she's just a regular pet. I named her after a late friend."
Cindy the former flight attendant wasn't actually dead, but Libby didn't have even the slightest clue.
She lifted the teacup to her lips, and sipped--she hadn't had green tea in a long time. "This is good," she commented.
"I'm pleased that you think so," D said, and offered the tribble back to its owner. "And I forgot to say that I'm glad you're feeling better. Your work here must be very stressful."
Libby placed the cup back onto the table and received Cindy, placing the tribble into the box on the floor--she didn't close it, just set her into it as if it were a playpen. If food and/or drink was out, it could be potentially disastrous for her to be around it.
"Thank you," she said, lifting her teacup again. "It is stressful, but the main problem isn't the stress itself...it's that I neglect to take care of my own mental health sometimes when I'm caring for others. I sort of bottle up the stress, and it just builds and builds until it's too much to handle."
D had a faint sense of disdain for mental health professionals - he considered human psychiatry to be a doomed attempt to fix what was fundamentally broken. The notion of one who allowed herself to be driven to the brink of madness had a pleasing sense of poetic justice about it.
Maybe he would have found it more noble, once. Maybe death had hardened him; maybe Leon's actions had left him bitter.
"I'm sorry to hear that," he lied. "You must be careful not to give too much of yourself, of course."
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
[Spam]
Date: 2010-03-26 02:45 am (UTC)"I would suppose it originated as a defence mechanism," he said softly. "To calm the temperament of predators, perhaps. It is certainly...unusual."
[Spam]
Date: 2010-03-26 03:08 am (UTC)Cindy the former flight attendant wasn't actually dead, but Libby didn't have even the slightest clue.
She lifted the teacup to her lips, and sipped--she hadn't had green tea in a long time. "This is good," she commented.
[Spam]
Date: 2010-03-28 04:46 pm (UTC)[Spam]
Date: 2010-03-28 10:01 pm (UTC)"Thank you," she said, lifting her teacup again. "It is stressful, but the main problem isn't the stress itself...it's that I neglect to take care of my own mental health sometimes when I'm caring for others. I sort of bottle up the stress, and it just builds and builds until it's too much to handle."
[Spam] - Sorry I'm tagging this at the pace of a turtle, D takes more thinking than my others :c
Date: 2010-03-29 07:41 pm (UTC)Maybe he would have found it more noble, once. Maybe death had hardened him; maybe Leon's actions had left him bitter.
"I'm sorry to hear that," he lied. "You must be careful not to give too much of yourself, of course."